The Nikon D70 is compatible with >90% of all Nikon F-mount lenses ever made!

The Nikon D70 is a tremendously capable d-SLR that noticeably advances the state of the art for cameras anywhere close to its price point. The lens it ships with is first-rate, with a wider focal-length range and faster maximum aperture than the Canon equivalent, and the camera itself just feels good in the hand. It's also remarkably responsive, with true instant-on availability, a responsive shutter, and truly exceptional continuous-shooting ability. Naturally, none of this would mean anything if the D70's images weren't up to snuff, but image quality is absolutely first rate as well. All in all, the D70 is an excellent camera, with features and performance well beyond what one might expect from an attractively priced d-SLR. Highly recommended!

I bought the D70 to have a backup of my two D2x during work.
The image quality is fine until 400ISO, but it decrease over, where the dinamic range is not enough in comparison with every newest camera.
The viewìfinder is a "little black hole", and it's a really a cons of this body (but the later amateur cameras aren't so better...).
The noise is very low, with virtually no vibrations.
Af is OK, and the external flash control too.

Masselink

Registered: January 2007Posts: 6

Nikon D70 review by Masselink

Review Date: 1/15/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,550.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Much better than the Canon 300D (at the time)

Cons:

Small screen/viewfinder

The D70 was my first DSLR. (I owned a Coolpix 4500) I was very easy to learn the how to handle the camera.

Allthough the camera i rather big, the LCD screen is pretty small. It's hard to see if pictures are sharp.

I really loved my camera and would never sold it if it wasn't necessary (i sold my lenses to buy a new one, and ended up selling my camera with it)

If you must choose between a D50 or a D70(s) get the D70(s). you won't be dissapointed.

Odradek

Registered: December 2006Posts: 6

Nikon D70 review by Odradek

Review Date: 1/15/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,000.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Cons:

A classic! The firts affordable Nikon DSLR that still has a lot to deliver. I bought one almost two years ago, and still don't have a solid reason why I should 'upgrade' either to a D80 or a D200. By the way, the D70's exposure system is way better than the D80's, and that alone is a reason why I don't feel the need to change my beloved D70 for a less acurate D80.
I think I'll grow old with it, so I hope it will last for many years to come.

rcoder

Registered: January 2007Posts: 6

Nikon D70 review by rcoder

Review Date: 1/14/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $800.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

excellent image quality, immediate startup and response, good manual control

Cons:

no af-mode select switch, small viewfinder

I bought my D70 with the 18-70mm kit zoom and a few accessories on consignment from a local photo shop just after the D200 was announced, and in less than a year have put it through nearly 20,000 shutter activations.

I had actually planned to buy a new Digital Rebel XT from said shop on that fateful day, until I noticed the D70 sitting in the consignment case. I'm glad it was there -- in terms of ergonomics and build quality, the D70 is head-and-shoulders above Canon, especially for someone with fairly large hands like mine.

My prior photography experience was with an all-manual 35mm SLR, and a handful of cheap digital P&S cameras, so moving up to the D70 was a real eye-opener for me. The ease and speed with which I can change any exposure setting allows me to adapt to lighting and scene changes that would be downright impossible to address using film, or any less-flexible camera.

I'm especially pleased with the low-light performance of this camera; coupled with an inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, (or my current favorite, the 85mm f/1.8D) I can get beautiful captures while out at a dark bar with friends, or walking under street lamps at night.

It's not a *perfect* camera -- the viewfinder is much too small to comfortable focus manually, and the AF gets bogged down in low light occasionally, especially when using non-AF-S lenses that don't have their own internal focusing motor. Overall, though, I'm quite happy with my D70 purchase, and have many thousands of precious images to show for it.

jkukec

Registered: January 2007Posts: 3

Nikon D70 review by jkukec

Review Date: 1/7/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,400.00| Rating: 10

Pros:

Very good results on Auto, with full manual abilities as well

Cons:

Hard to read the tiny symbols on the top LCD

I love this camera. The image quality is great and if you take the time to learn where all the options are located (and how to use them) it's even better. Thankfully, the Auto setting will generally take very good pictures if you find yourself flustered, though the best pictures are usually from the "P" (Program) setting. The custom white-balance option can be a life-saver.

I would highly reccommend getting Peter iNova's ebook - it helps a lot!

trentdp

Registered: September 2006Posts: 26

Nikon D70 review by trentdp

Review Date: 1/6/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $750.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Great features and now a steal with kit lens.

Cons:

Getting old in technology?

The ratings are for the camera not the lenses I own. I now have two Nikons: one D70 which is still going strong after two years and over 6,000 photos, and now a D70S Kit which I recently purchased since the drastic price drop.
I have fairly large hands and find the D70 body to be perfect from a handling standpoint. The D200 feels equally good to me but a little bit heavier. I have tried the D40, D50, and D80 but they simply don't suit me as well as the D70.
I gave my older D70 to my wife along with a Nikon 18-135 lens and she absolutely loves the way it handles especially after using cameras such as the Fuji 7000 and Fuji 9000 which are good cameras but not SLRs.
I concur with the other assessments provided by the other reviewers so I will not bore you with similar comments. I recently purchased a Fuji S3 in anticipation of great improvements in picture quality but was somewhat disappointed with my experience with it. You can read my comments about the S3 in this forum.
On balance, I still believe the D70/70s is the premier camera on the market today for the average Joe amature such as myself. DP Review provides one of the best forums for review of cameras and I suggest that you visit that web site if you are not already familiar with it.
I am tempted to buy the D80 but don't want another storage media (SD) to deal with. Also, it just doesn't quite fit my hands for balance as well as the D70.
If I were going to buy a new camera today, I would choose the Nikon D200 even with it's short comings.
If you are thinking about buying a Nikon Digital SLR Camera for the first time, I believe you will be very happy with the D70S currently available for a bargain price of about $800 including the kit 18-70 lens.

wishbone

Registered: January 2007Posts: 6

Nikon D70 review by wishbone

Review Date: 1/5/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,200.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Good backup camera, lightweight, good performer

Cons:

Bad white balance, horrible rear LCD, AF could be better

I pre-ordered my D70 before it was released, hence the high price I paid for it $1200. However, it was the best digital camera I've held at that time! It did everything I've dreamed for years. The 17-70 kit lens was excellent and I had other lenses from the film era to use. This camera is fairly light, easy to hold and carry around. The on-board flash is nice when you aren't carrying your regular flash unit. Overall I've been using it for 3 years and now use it as my 2nd camera behind my D200.

Now...my gripes with the D70 are the following.
1. The rear LCD is either dying on me or it is just very dim and inaccurate compared to the D200. I can hardly see the photos I've recently taken in it. It is also small compared to newer cameras.
2. The auto-white balance is really off.. Even in day time, images can have a blue cast due to wrong white balance. Now I only shoot RAW so it's not as a major problem.
3. Compared to the D200, the AF is not as fast nor as accurate, especially in dim lighting.

birdpix

Registered: January 2007Posts: 2

Nikon D70 review by birdpix

Review Date: 1/1/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,200.00| Rating: 9

We use 2 d70 cameras for daily pro photography including events, weddings, and portraits. In general, it's been a very good camera and was a great value when new and even better for those wanting to find a deal on used cameras now.

It's 6mp image size is fine for most photography needs and images from ours have been blown up to 11x14 and looked perfect, as well as been used full page in magazines and books in print and looked great.

We bought the first d70 to hit our area and sadly, it did have some of the infamous problems of early versions, including the dreaded (and frustrating) back-focus issue that required a trip back to Nikon. A month after the year warranty expired, the BGLOD (blinking-green-light-of-death) happened, in the middle of our busy season and required the instant purchase of our second d70 to keep shooting. Although out of warranty, Nikon did cover the repair totally at no cost to us. Lastly, the battery was one of the bad ones that needed to go back and be replaced, again at no cost by Nikon. Had we NOT had a second body and extra battery packs, the loss of our camera for 3 weeks at a time twice in a little over a year would bave been a real issue.

After using a D1 with it's pitiful and poorly designed battery, the battery life on the d70 continues to amaze me even after 2-1/2 years and 20k+ images. The Nikon battery is simply awesome and lasts about forever. I seldom ever change batteries even during long days of constant shooting and they also hold a good strong charge when left in the bag for long time frames. Our back-up body now comes out maybe once a month, and is always at 100% charge showing when turned on!

The tiny viewfinder is frustrating and difficult espcially to those used to big full viewfinders of pro film and DSLR cameras and those with eyeglasses. The image review screen on the back is also pretty small compared to other cameras, but is functional and usable. I do miss the option of a vertical shutter release, remote release (hard wired) port, and a built in hot-shoe synch, but those things are easy to overcome for the most part and more inconvenient than anything, with the exception of the small viewfinder.

I've had odd focus related issues with both our d70 cameras that involve the camera switching out of the focus zone (center) I had selected and "locked" in, with the focus switching to other zones or closest focus at critical times, requiring me to fight with it and re-lock the zone again while trying to shoot. Frustrating! Does not happen often, but is annoying when it does!!

All in all, I would give this camera a hearty thumbs-up and recomend it to anyone switching from film to digital in particular. These were our primary transition cameras moving from film to digital after 25 years in the photo biz, and were a good value for the investment made. Very capable cameras that are still very viable choices even when compared to newer models...

aalto

Registered: December 2006Posts: 12

Nikon D70 review by aalto

Review Date: 12/30/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,300.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Workhorse

Cons:

Still a consumer body.

These are dropping in price now and you can get a really nice camera for really low prices. Mines a bit over 2 years now and i hasnt failed me yet. So if youre thinking about buying a first time SLR, this will get you a lot further for far less than the new D50 and D40 models, it is the better camera.

The only thing that bothers me is that it is still a consumer SLR, with all user-friendly features that are totally useless if you have been using manual cameras before. But i guess they are ok if youre just starting out.

Matthew Saville

Registered: December 2006Posts: 21

Nikon D70 review by Matthew Saville

Review Date: 12/29/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $450.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Affordability, image quality, size/weight, ease of use

Cons:

slightly less ISO perfornace and speed than the 20D

I liked the D70 so much that I bought a 2nd one, after shooting with my first one for over 2 years. I'm approaching 3 years with the first one now, and it is still going strong.

It's true that you can get a star performer like the D80 or the Canon 20D for just a little bit more, but I thinik that right now the D70 offers the most value. If someone has a lot of money and is looking to get into photography semi-professionally then I'd recommend one of the other cameras I mentioned. However if you're on a budget yet really want to get into photography on a deeper level and master things like apeture / shutter speed etc, then the D70 is THE camera for you. For one, I'd highly recommend it above the likes of the D50 and the Canon Digital Rebels, because the D70 has dual command dials that give you the fullest control of apeture and shutter speed, while those other models only have one command dial. Trust me after shooting with DSLR's for so long, this is a big deal.

The image quality can be debated till kingdom come, but the bottom line is that I've earned a lot of money shooting with my two D70's, and not just in good conditions- I frequently shoot at ISO 1600 in very poor light, and the customers / clients are always completely satisfied with the results. I just had to know how to expose my images properly at high ISO's, and how to process / print them.

Again, it's the best value out there right now. Especially for a budget beginner who is looking to get into photography more seriously.

-Matt-

deanzat

Registered: December 2006Posts: 9

Nikon D70 review by deanzat

Review Date: 12/12/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,000.00| Rating: 10

Pros:

First sub-$1000 camera that used my collection of lenses; lovely raw images

How do I love thee? Let me count the 6.1 million ways. Well, actually there's no time for that; let me summarize.

This camera rekindled my love for photography. Once Nikon produced an "affordable" camera that used all my old lenses, I dropped film like a hot bowl of haggis.

While I've never been satisfied with the camera's jpegs, I've learned to love shooting in RAW, and while I'm no artist, I'm slowly developing a style that plays to the camera's silky smooth images.

I bought the first D70 that came to my local store, and believe I paid the pioneer premium. It went to Torrance twice for focus problems, and then to El Segundo for the blinking green light of death problem. In all three cases, I got exceptional customer service from Nikon, but it was still a drag.

Nevertheless, this camera has brought tremendous joy to my life, even though I'm still on a long digital imaging learning curve. In combination with the SB800 flash, this camera delivers remarkably consistent exposures.

One feature I love but rarely hear mentioned by others is the ability to adjust the shutter speed/aperature combination in P mode. I love that flexibility, although I wish it would default back to standard at some point.

Believe it or not, right now I'm debating whether to "upgrade" to a D200 or get a D70s while they're still available.

duncanmarkc

Registered: December 2006Posts: 1

Nikon D70 review by duncanmarkc

Review Date: 12/11/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,600.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Long list as other before me have stated.

Cons:

Not electronically mature or is frail in performance.

In early 2004, this camera motivated me to switch from film. The ability to get instant feedback from a shot was phenominal. Nikon SB800 flash is a must. However, this camera has never provided the crisp details that I am accustomed to. Either the camera shoots soft or the kit lens is soft (Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED Lens). High shuter speeds and tripods made no difference. System developed ERR message and resulted in over $250 repair for a know issue. Get insurance and be prepared for a wait when in need of repair. A split screen focusing screen for older eyes would be great.

llitten

Registered: December 2006Posts: 4

Nikon D70 review by llitten

Review Date: 12/9/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,400.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

almost equal to my old f100, it does almost everything

Cons:

3.5 fps, 6mp

This camera will do it all. Almost.
Pro:
This will control nikons ittl flash system. Lovely system.
6mp images, large enough to frame 11x14 easily.
Definately a camera worth owning.
Con:
It is a bit slow, 3.5fps if shooting sports. but for the average joe, you can still time that shot and get it perfect.
the 6mp is somewhat limiting in certain situations: low light, contrast shots, such as sunsets, night shots.

JoeSchu

Registered: December 2006Posts: 5

Nikon D70 review by JoeSchu

Review Date: 12/5/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,200.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

The original Nikon Pro-Sumer

Cons:

Gives you NAS in a bad way

Time has passed by the D70, but if you can find one on the bargain bin as people hop on the D80/D200 band wagons, GO FOR IT. For your average pro-sumer looking to have fun with a DSLR, it is tough to argue w/ the D70. I know the LCD is smaller than the new ones, and they say focus speed has been improved, but this is a solid contributor with enough power and flexibility to keep most photographers happy for a good long time.

mimic

Registered: December 2006Posts: 7

Nikon D70 review by mimic

Review Date: 12/1/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,100.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

great image quality, better build than competition, very handy to use

Cons:

bigger than competition, poor viewfinder, small screen

i own this body since two years, and I'm very happy with it.
I won't write about technical pros and cons here since there is lots of technical reviews about d70 on th net and a really good one on imaging-resource.com.

Comfortable to use, buttons are placed where it should be, handgrip well designed, images are good quality, noise is under control until 800iso, battery life is very good, even after two years of use ( about 15000 shots), AF is fast and reliable, even with low light, and kit lens is great.

However, viewfinder is tiny and dim, so it doesn't allow easy manual focusing and depth of field preview. screen is also tiny, it's not a real issue but today DSLR screens are much more comfortable to review shots. that's the only real drawbacks I found about it.

It was a real bargain two years ago, and I think it can be very good buy second hand.

PS : sorry for my poor english

Aymeric

bullfr

Registered: November 2006Posts: 9

Nikon D70 review by bullfr

Review Date: 12/1/2006

Would you recommend the product? No |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 8

Pros:

Well designed ergonomics, advanced features for the enthusiast photographer

Cons:

outdated by newer models

This camera has been really succesfull, and it is fully deserved. It offers a great DSLR for enthusiastic photographers, who want to go for digital while keeping full control on their pictures.
It is now outdated by the D70s, of course, but also by the newer D50 or D80 (depending on what you expect from a DSLR !!)
The 18-70 kit lens is a great one, and is designed for use with this camera.
Nikon ergonomics are just perfect, all controls are easily available, and it is really intuitive for long time Nikon users, as well as easy to learn for newbies.

jeans

Registered: November 2006Posts: 15

Nikon D70 review by jeans

Review Date: 11/17/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,000.00| Rating: 10

Pros:

see inside

Cons:

see inside

Pros:
Great image quality (but see ISO 200 in the cons)
very good ergonomics
Very feature-rich
Almost al the needed buttons are available (but see extrenal A/F switch in the cons)
Relatively inexpensive - was the second sub-1000$ DSLR (the first one was the crippled Canon Rebel/300D)
Flash sync 1/500 - no available in the newer and more expensive models like D2Xs, D200, D80
Nikon's CLS is great - you just out your flashgus wherever you see fit and they all fire and give you spot-on exposures every time

Cons:
ISO 200 means there's always some noise in you images
Lack of mirror lock-up
Lack of external A/F mode switch - in order to switch AF-S/AF-C you have to go into the menus
Plastic body - but it's a norm at this price point
The portrait/landscape/sport modes really annoy me, but then they could be useful to someone
Small viewfinder - not easy to focus manually (required for macro shots at least)
The LCD is too small by the modern standards, only 1.8"

Misc:
After almost 2 years my D70 still works perfectly.
The only time it's seen Nikon service was when I tried to clean the CCD by using compressed air - don't try this at home kids!

Summary:
Ignore the fact that the cons list is as long as the pros one - all the cons are actually minor ones.
D70 is a great camera that produces great looking images, easy to use and doesn't cost you an arm and a leg.

Josstover

Registered: August 2006Posts: 4

Nikon D70 review by Josstover

Review Date: 8/16/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 9

Pros:

Build, image quality, battery life, speed, etc, etc, etc,

Cons:

no mirror lock up, sometimes noisy

Bought this camera in May 2005 and did more than 6000 shots, mostly architecture. It's very wll build. It once slipped out of my hands in an archeological excavation pit of about two meters deep and it survided without damage. Printing on A4 delivers tacksharp images, but you have to use high quality lenses. The 18-70 kitlens did-not work for me (see review). So now I use the Tokina 12-24mm and the Sigma 20-40mm

Because I do a lot of interieurs I often use slow shutterspeeds (1 sec and more). Noise can be a problem then. What I miss is a mirror lock up.

wei

Registered: November 2005Posts: 3

Nikon D70 review by wei

Review Date: 11/27/2005

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 8

Pros:

worth the price, easy to control, good performance

Cons:

not enought professional, color manegment could be better, noisy high iso

nice camera, good start for photographers specially for digital photographers, after 1 year its time to move to the bigger sister the D2X as Im doing now. nice performance and surely worth the price.

stahlb

Registered: November 2005Posts: 2

Nikon D70 review by stahlb

Review Date: 11/14/2005

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $750.00| Rating: 10

Pros:

Speed, image quality, ergonomics, speed

Cons:

none

This is one awesome camera. I have had mine for a couple of months now, I can't put it down. I did alot of research before deciding to pick up the D70, played with alot of cameras, the Canon Rebel XT, Minolta Maxxum 7i, ect. The minolta, even though I have always used Minolta gear(SRT201, Maxxum7000, DiMage7i, ect), I love the Minolta film equipment, but, my experience with the Dimage7i, combined with the price of the Maxxum 7i, ruled that camera out, along with it feeling heftier than the D70. The Canon felt like a toy, really felt "cheap".

I started handling the D70, and fell in love. I have taken well over 1000 shots already, and keep learning more and more about this camera. I got the body only, and added the Sigma 28-90 & 70-300 kit, and a Tamron 2x Converter...toss in a UV filter, Circular Polarizer, ND2 filters for each lens, and for around $1000, I am set for a while. I have taken fast pace shots of stunt shows, slow stuff like portraits, still life, even astronomy...I am amazed at how true to my eye this camera is. Just carry a white sheet of paper with you, set the WB manually, and the colors become truly alive!

In short, run, don;t walk, and grab one of these, or the newer D70s if you are thinking of going with a D-SLR. And with the D200 coming, although, at a higher price point...I think the boys at Nikon really have it together....

Ross_Alford

Registered: October 2005Posts: 36

Nikon D70 review by Ross_Alford

Review Date: 11/3/2005

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 9

I bought one in April 2004, thinking I would continue to use film for serious work and digital for less serious. 18 months later, I still have the same rolls of Provia in my film SLRs. Image quality is superb, easily matching the results I was getting with Provia and a 2700 DPI Nikon scanner. At least if you shoot in raw and interpolate up one size using Adobe's Camera Raw, resolution is sufficient for at least 12 x 18" prints that look tack sharp. Up to ISO 400 there is almost always no visible noise, except in very dark areas if their brightness is turned way up. Even at ISO 1600 you can get sharp, low-grain prints up to about 11 x 14.

It handles very nicely. The shape fits my hands well, and there are enough buttons and dials that I rarely need to use the menu system, and so am not slowed down by that. In general the user interface is superb. The one place it falls down, and falls down badly, is in image review and playback. To magnify the image to check sharpness, you have to press one button, then press another button while rotating a command dial to increase magnification. Maximum magnification is not quite enough to really tell whether fine details are as sharp as they can be; I have lost a fair number of macro shots because I thought they were sharp when they weren't quite. I have heard this complaint from others, too.

I could go on for ages about the positive features of the camera, though. Long battery life, on-demand grid lines in finder, nice pop-up flash that covers the widest lenses I have used it with...

In summary, I am very happy I bought it. Took about 13000 photos in the first 12 months, about 11000 more than I would have if using film, and got some great images because of that. I would still recommend it, or the D70s, highly as a starter DSLR.

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,400.00| Rating: 0

Pros:

Ver good camera, very versatile

Cons:

Electronics does not seem to be robust

Purchased my D70 directly when it was launched. I did the wrong thing and got a package with two Sigma lenses (18-50 and 55-200 mm). These lenses adversely affects picture quality. Got new Tamron lenses (90mm, 1:1 macro and the 18-200 zoom), excellent value for money.

Out of the box, the LCD screen had a dead pixel in the middle. This is not a reason for warranty replacement as you need to have more than 6 pixels dead. Bad move Nikon!

Had two serious error: 1) light measurement electronics had to be replaced (the famous green blinking LED problem). 2) two weeks after fixing that problem got Err message in viewfinder. The camera is currently undergoing repair at Nikon.

I suspect that this may be the reason for the launch of the D70S.

When it works my D70 is all I want from a digital SLR.

COMPLEATANGLER

Registered: October 2005Posts: 2

Nikon D70 review by COMPLEATANGLER

Review Date: 10/22/2005

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $650.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Great DSLR , Superior 1/500 flash sync and iTLL flash system

Cons:

Will not meter with non-cpu lenses

One heck of a good DSLR body. I wish I could shoot with two at the same time! Buy an SD to CF Card adapter and use your SD cards in this body. Works Great. Superior 1/500 flash sync and iTLL flash system. Unfortunately it will not meter with non-cpu lenses.